[Mental health indicators and their association with smoking in Guadalajara teenagers by sex].

BACKGROUND

To associated mental health factors with tobacco-smoking in the last month in scholastic adolescents.

METHODS

An analytic transversal study with 1134 students in the first year of senior studies in a government preparatory school. Ten mental health factors were evaluated: self-esteem, impulsiveness, depressive symptoms, suicide ideation, disordered eating, recreation, locus of control, relationship with father, relationship with mother and stress.

RESULTS

We found mental health factors differences between men and women. In the risk analysis, the factors which associated with tobacco smoking in men were high self-esteem, impulsiveness, age and tobacco-smoking in friends. For the women suicide ideation, impulsiveness disordered eating, age and tobacco-smoking in friends and brothers. After the logistic regression were associated impulsiveness and tobacco-smoking in friends for both, high self-esteem and age for men, and tobacco-smoking in brothers for women.

CONCLUSIONS

Mental health factors are different for men and women. However, all of them are a reference that tobacco-smoking is associated with the inner world of teens that are meaning differently for men and women.